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HS marching band show controversy


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As music educators we are taught to cross curricular teach. Because the other teachers are not doing their job well enough, music teachers are often told to incorporate other subject material into our lessons. I think the ACLU could have some fun here and the benefit would be the band.

Call in the ACLU in New Oxford? Probably as popular as the Communist Party. :shutup:

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IMO whatever is performed on the field by a HS marching band is the responsibility of the marching band director, not one of the designers. That is certainly how the school administration and Board of Ed would view it...the director is the teacher they hired for the job, not a "hired gun" visual or guard designer or music arranger.

#### our director! one year we did a water theme show, it rained every week. next year we did snow, it snowed. he should be reported to Fox News for ####### up the environment

:tongue:

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I remember in 1994 when SCV did "The Red Poppy," people commented that they never would have gotten away with such a show in the American Legion/VFW days, but saw it as interesting because the Cold War was all but over. I doubt they could have done such a show in the 1980's when the Nuclear Arms race was in full swing. Ten or fifteen years ago no one would have blinked an eye with the Cadets' most recent show, but as one poster mentioned, it caused quite a stir a few weeks ago on this very site. Controversy often depends on the day and age and what is controversial one day may not be the next.

As far as this high school is concerned, it's probably due more to the polarized factions in our nation and the hammer and cycle probably fed into this controversy. Perhaps next year it would be seen differently but until the election is over, anything can be controversial.

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I'd agree with this too, Mike. The ultimate responsibility of what goes on with a Corps... both on and off the field for that matter... ultimately is the responsibility of the Corps Director or the Band Director.The hierarchial lines of authority and responsibility, as I'm sure you are aware can differ markedly between Drum Corps and school afiliated Marching Bands.

Yup...agree the two are VERY different in a case like this. With every band I've worked with since my first, in 71 when I was a college freshman brought in as what today would be a drum tech, the director was totally involved in the show design, both music and visual.

In Band, the responsibility is the Band Director, but also the Director of Music if that school has such a hierarchy, as well as the Supt. of Schools. Oftentimes, if there is a lawsuit generated for one reason or another on the school regarding something that occurred in the Marching Band, the defendents " held accountable " by the plaintiffs suit go all the way up to the highest level of authority in the School or the College.

Oh, absolutely. That is one reason admins often react to even one complaint. They know they'd be brought in if a situation rose to that level.

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Come on guys. Don't you remember when the Bridgemen did the Civil War routine? They originally designed it so that the North won the battle, but when they had to travel south of the mason-dixon lo and behold the Confederates emerged victorious. Great boulderdash I wonder why. :tongue:

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SCV 2005 had more than enough Soviet imagery, and that's a great show I don't remember anyone complaining about.

Boo is right about the Miss Saigon show, but my memories of the complaint (singular) came from a letter to the editor in Drum Corps World (remember newspapers?) where somebody said they were "tired" of SCV having communist shows, something like that.

+++

Boo, I'm not sure what you are asking. Regarding the specific, the HS band mentioned above, having one parent complain and then having to remove the hammer and sickle seems like political correctness run amok, as usual. Thumbs down to the complaining parent getting their way.

Edit: I just re-read the article. The "district" took out the offending H&S, and now they are "evaluating" the rest of the show to see what else needs to be taken out. Do you think they redact the history book as well and take out the "controversial" pictures and symbols? It seems ridiculous and looks a lot like censorship to me.

Perhaps in a broader context, I don't think it would be as out of bounds in drum corps, because for the most part we don't have little kids, we have young adults putting on shows with sophisticated and sometimes controversial themes. I don't like sexual content (pelvic thrusts, that sort of thing) or violent innuendo in band shows, but they are certainly less objectionable when presented by drum corps.

Edited by wvu80
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Come on guys. Don't you remember when the Bridgemen did the Civil War routine? They originally designed it so that the North won the battle, but when they had to travel south of the mason-dixon lo and behold the Confederates emerged victorious. Great boulderdash I wonder why. :tongue:

This was in perfect harmony with the Bridgemen's primary intention to please the audience with its show. Imagine if the Bridgemen reversed this and had the Confederates emerge victorious wherever it did their show in the Country. But thats not what the Bridgemen were all about. They wanted to win over audiences, not alienate them or confuse them, etc or make them leave feeling that they did not get their monies worth with their show from the Bridgemen.

Edited by BRASSO
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Boo is right about the Miss Saigon show, but my memories of the complaint (singular) came from a letter to the editor in Drum Corps World (remember newspapers?) where somebody said they were "tired" of SCV having communist shows, something like that.

+++

Boo, I'm not sure what you are asking. Regarding the specific, the HS band mentioned above, having one parent complain and then having to remove the hammer and sickle seems like political correctness run amok, as usual. Thumbs down to the complaining parent getting their way.

...

I was wondering if the same could happen in drum corps, or perhaps if it couldn't because we aren't high school organizations sanctioned by a community body.

I don't remember the complaint in Drum Corps World, but I had a few people complain to me about the North Vietnamese flag, including a top corps director whose name shall remain anonymous. And there were people around me to refused to stand at the end of the show because of that, which I did not witness earlier in the season before the flag was added in.

We in general do need to be aware of more tender sensitivities, but those with such sensitivities need to be aware that most of us will think they should get a life.

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There is a certain danger in this sort of restriction, as it removes context from the discussion.

In former Soviet countries you do occasionally encounter Soviet symbols in public display. These symbols do not remain in reverence to Soviet ideology or as an endorsement of the actions of the Soviet leadership.

These symbols are preserved due to the context of use.

For example, each morning on my way to my office, I pass a building that still displays various Soviet symbols and placards - the former national headquarters of the KGB. While nothing has been removed from this building, many of the bricks have been engraved with the names of those who died there. These symbols remain as a reminder of the activities that were allowed to occur within those walls and their association to the system which executed them.

Another example is a monument to the soldiers that died during the second world war. Though they fought under the Soviet banner, they were not fighting for ideology, but for their homes, their friends and their families. Their service and sacrifice is deserving of respect in true context of their own time, not in the context of later events.

To restrict such historical symbols from use, striping them entirely of context, we lose the ability to understand the dynamics of their history, making it easier to potentially repeat it.

This, here, is the genuine danger of accommodating to the easily outraged.

Edited by danielray
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There is a certain danger in this sort of restriction, as it removes context from the discussion.

In former Soviet countries you do occasionally encounter Soviet symbols in public display. These symbols do not remain in reverence to Soviet ideology or as an endorsement of the actions of the Soviet leadership.

These symbols are preserved due to the context of use.

For example, each morning on my way to my office, I pass a building that still displays various Soviet symbols and placards - the former national headquarters of the KGB. While nothing has been removed from this building, many of the bricks have been engraved with the names of those who died there. These symbols remain as a reminder of the activities that were allowed to occur within those walls and their association to the system which executed them.

Another example is a monument to the soldiers that died during the second world war. Though they fought under the Soviet banner, they were not fighting for ideology, but for their homes, their friends and their families. Their service and sacrifice is deserving of respect in true context of their own time, not in the context of later events.

To restrict such historical symbols from use, striping them entirely of context, we lose the ability to understand the dynamics of their history, making it easier to potentially repeat it.

This, here, is the genuine danger of accommodating to the easily outraged.

I agree with you on not suppressing historical aspects, and that we need to be open to keeping all of the past atrocities or historical movements within the public discourse. However, in the name of historical accuracy, should a high school band construct a show called America 1969 and have the kids on the field at some point shout out, "F*** the Police, F*** the Police" as well as collectively display their middle fingers? It is historically accurate for that movement in America 1969.

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